Many social workers, massage therapists, and psychotherapists I’ve spoken with over the years—like acupuncturists—pursue the healing arts because we need healing ourselves. On February 3 of this year, my father died from cancer. He had been battling the disease since 2013 and was, in fact, diagnosed right around the time I signed the lease to open Long Beach Community Acupuncture.

He lived in Texas, and the distance compounded by invasive treatments from radiation and chemotherapy, to surgery and more chemo have been—to say the least—stressful for me. Living with a cancer diagnosis and treatment is a strange trip of intensity for caregivers and patients; it is a flux of emotions and physical symptoms with good and bad days. These past few years have been delineated by periods of shock and sadness, then those of waiting and hoping for optimal outcomes.

Working in this clinic daily has been a great source of healing for me as well as many others. We’ve given over 19,000 treatments to date. I am amazed at the sheer number of treatments and even more so at how much healing I’ve drawn from this environment. It was not something I expected.

Work that one enjoys is a salutary well. I have been soothed and comforted from treating people over and over; it comes in the form of the brief, casual conversations of our lives as I get the pins in and also in the successes we share in having symptoms improve if not resolve completely.

It was a conversation with a long-time patient that enabled me to take good leave of my father before he died and to appreciate how he had influenced my life choices in ways I could not recognize before. While another patient, who helps me clean the clinic sometimes, encouraged me to visit him multiple times in the final months of his life—not a simple choice as a business owner—but I did. Those last visits created some of my most cherished memories of him now. At the same time, our staff stepped in to cover for me, keeping the clinic open and accessible to patients while I was gone.

I wanted to share this at the time of our expansion of hours because our clinic staff and patients have been such an unbelievable source of support and these changes reflect the strength of LBCA. It is difficult to estimate the value of a good team but we have one and I am grateful to you all. There is strength in numbers and healing in community.

Here we are, with another turning of the zodiac wheel taking us out of the Fire Monkey and into the year of the Fire Rooster. Transitioning from a year of what seemed like the universe playing a joke on us, the Fire Rooster cuts through the noise with a clear directive.

The Chinese Lunar New Year falls on the second New Moon after the Winter Solstice, which was January 28th this year. Each lunar year pairs a Taoist element (earth, wood, metal, water, fire) with one of the 12 zodiac animals. Each element has a two-year cycle, and we are currently on the second fire year!

The first year of fire followed two elemental wood years. So, if you can imagine a forest fire, and the wild transmutation of the energy from old growth wood, paired with the unpredictable monkey energy, that is what we had last year. This year's fire is said to be more contained, focused, and direct. A fire with purpose. A fire for creation, for lighting the way, for action.

Now with this specific fire paired with Rooster, we get the energy of this year. Rooster comes with strength in resolve, leadership, and integrity. Calling us to turn our fears into fuel. To use our voice, to speak our truth. This is not the year to stay small or quiet--the year of the Fire Rooster encourages us to rise up and sing to the morning sun.

Traditionally, Roosters carried the medicine of forecasting. Their songs to the sun are believed to call in the spirit of tomorrow, and they awaken the dreamers to the new dawn. The habit of hitting snooze is no longer an option--it is time to wake up and shift our dreams into reality.

Rooster brings organized leadership with concern for the whole. With an eye on threats to equity, they don't back down from a challenge. They are believed to be careful and methodical planners, creating the blueprint for achieving long term goals. Rooster's consistent crows of encouragement remind us to keep our eye on the prize, to not get discouraged, and to stay mindfully awake.

Despite Rooster's strengths, it is important to note the shadow side of Fire Rooster, which we can recognize in our current political paradigm. Overly concerned about outward appearance, Fire Rooster's shadow lashes out against any critic who challenges their sense of self-worth. Fire Rooster's shadow reacts from a place of insecurity, burning bridges instead of building them.

Whereas Fire Rooster energy can bring medicine to those that struggle with finding their voice, the extreme end of the spectrum unconsciously allows for hurtful speech. Fire Rooster's shadow talks to hear itself talk, talks over others, and believes its voice to be the only one worth listening to. Fire Rooster's shadow can be egotistic, overly harsh, critical, and blunt. Fire Rooster's shadow is a bully.

How, then, can we find the truth in the shadow side? How do we utilize the conscious Fire Rooster energy as a tool for transformation?

We have never needed the energy of Fire Rooster as much as we do now. As a sleeping nation, Fire Rooster is a call to action. A wake-up call. To rise up for restorative justice. To be organized and unafraid. A directive to use our voice, speak our truth, and call in the tomorrow we envision for our communities today.

As a community acupuncturist, a lot of what we do revolves around selecting acupuncture point combinations to treat disease patterns. We insert needles to work in conjunction with an individual’s constitution for healing. There are no gurus here. We provide acupuncture, plain and simple.

But there is another part of our work that goes beyond needling and it has to do with how we inhabit the clinic. Some POCA members refer to it as “holding space,” and I like to think of it as an act of welcoming. We invite people to show up as they are. We welcome them when they feel broken, angry, tired or sad—when they struggle to change a damaging mindset—when they must deal with logistical and practical problems, like finding a job or a place to live—or any of the other myriad reasons life can be challenging.

Since the election, the clinic has functioned as a refuge for many people to sort out their responses. As a practitioner it’s felt really good to hold the space for people and to be of service in this way. Long Beach is one of the most diverse cities in the United States and our clinic on any given day reflects a cross-section of differences and of unity.

As we enter the peak holiday season and the last month of what has been a tumultuous and difficult year, know that this clinic is a safe place for you. We welcome you here to weather the changes that are coming with 2017.